Middle Eastern Wars: Jihad & Resistance

Subject 131-415 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 4 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Semester 2, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: A 2-hour seminar per week
Total Time Commitment: 2 contact hours/week , 8 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth-year honours in history (or in a relevant program) or enrolment in a relevant coursework Masters program
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Dr Richard Pennell

Contact

Richard Pennell

rpennell@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: The basic meaning of the word Jihad is 'effort,' one to achieve a positive goal. The effort can be personal and spiritual, to achieve piety and moral integrity, or collective and physical participation in warfare to protect or advance a moral and Islamic society. This subject studies the second of those manifestations, but with a vital awareness of the importance of the first. It explores the religious political and social context of warfare in the Middle East and North Africa between the local population and various European and 'western' enemies, and in particular the ways in which wars were conducted. Using primary sources, it will examine concepts of honour and sacrifice, warfare and the notion of 'just' war. It will begin with a background in the early Islamic period, but concentrating on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to examine concepts of pre-colonial resistance, wars of liberation and the clash of civilisations that is proposed to explain present-day conflict. Students will be asked to place the primary sources in a contemporary theoretical perspective and so develop an understanding of the ways in which warfare between Muslims and Europeans has changed during the colonial and postcolonial periods.
Objectives:
  • understand the relationships between religious and political motivation in military conflict;
  • identify the influences of culture, political organisation and geographic and economic circumstances on the form of conflict;
  • understand the relationship between theory based in a received conception of the past and practice.
Assessment: A classpaper of 2000 words 40% (due during the semester) and a written researched essay of 3000 words 60% (due during the examination period).
Prescribed Texts:
Breadth Options:

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • show an advanced understanding of the changing knowledge base in the specialist area;
  • be able to evaluate and synthesise the research and professional literature in the discipline;
  • have an appreciation of the design, conduct and reporting of original research.
Related Course(s): Master of International Studies
Master of Islamic Studies
Postgraduate Certificate in International Studies
Postgraduate Diploma in International Studies
Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Studies
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Asian Studies
History
History
History

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